Rail-brace for railway-tracks



Patented Aug. 2, I898.

W. B. 8. H. L. BRUNSUN. RAIL BRACE FOR RAILWAY TRACKS.

(Application filed Dec. 30, 1897.)

(No Model.)

m W m M m w UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

WESLEY B. BRUNSON AND HARTWELL L. BRUNSON, OF FLEMING, GEORGIA.

RAlL-BRACE FOR RAILWAY-TRACKS.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 608,507, dated August2, 1898.

Application filed December 30, 1897. Serial No. 664,533. N model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WESLEY B. BRUNsoN and HARTWELL L. BRUNsoN, citizensof the United States, residing at Fleming, in the county of Liberty andState of Georgia, have invented new and useful Improvements inRail-Braces for Railway-Tracks, of which the following is aspecification.

Our invention relates to rail-braces for railway-tracks, and hasfor itsparticular object to provide improved devices for bracing the upperportion of a guard-rail and to thereby prevent it from canting andcutting into the cross-ties, which it is liable to do with the ordinarybrace, that 'is insufficient-to resist the strain thrown upon the railby the wheelflange.

It is another object of our invention to brace each guard-railindependently by means of adjustable rods supported at an abutment orabutments fixed at the center of the track, and whereby each guard-railcan be adjusted with relation to the adjoining main rail.

The invention consists in features of construction and novelcombinations of devices for the bracing of rails, as hereinafter moreparticularly described and claimed.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 illustrates our invention in partsectional elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan viewshowing a modification of the abutment or center piece.

' Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the maintrack-rails, and 2 the guard-rails. It is preferable to provide'forthese rails the chairs or seats 3, that are spiked down at the outersides of the main rails. These chairs are firmly supported on the crossties 4, and each chair has at its inner end an upward-extended andflanged portion 5, that closely fits the inner side of a guard-rail.

To the center portion of the tie at there is secured, by means of spikesor lag-screws, a plate 6, having, preferably, two abutments 7 formedthereon, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In each of these abutments 7 thereis an inclined screw-threaded aperture that receives the innerscrew-threaded end of a brace-rod 8, the outer end of which has thereona stud or tenon 9, which is loosely inserted into an opening in theupward-extended portion 5 of the rail-chair near the upper inner sideportion of the guard-rail. On each brace-rod 8 there is a polygonalsurface 10 for application of a Wrench to adjust each rod independently,according to the requirements of the guardrail with which it connects.Jam-nuts 11 are provided to prevent the brace-rods from tu rning afterthey have been adjusted.

Instead of providing a separate abutment 7 for each brace-rod 8, theremay be formed on the center plate 6 only a single abutment 12, Fig. 3,with screw-threaded apertures in its opposite sides for supporting thetwo independently-adj ustable brace-rods; but the construction shown inFigs. 1 and 2 is preferable for many reasons.

By spiking down the outer portion of the chair 3 onto the tie 4 at theoutside of the main rail 1 the inner upward-extended portion 50f saidchair or seat will be drawn firmly up to the inner side of theguard-rail 2, thereby preventing it from slipping and at the same timeaffording a firm seat for the outer end of the brace-rod. Being extendedbeneath the rails 1 and 2, it is obvious that the bottom plate of thechair 3 will act also to prevent the flange of the guard-rail fromcutting into the tie as the result of any tendency to canting of saidrail.

At its outer end each brace-rod 8 has a perfectly loose connection withthe upward-extended portion 5 of the chair, the stud 9 bein g looselyinserted into a hole .to prevent the rod from being thrown out ofposition and to provide a seat or bearing only at the shoulder betweenthe said stud and the main portion ofthe brace-rod. This connection isplaced at as high a point as possible to give a downward and inwardslant to the brace-rods 8, thus providing a more direct resistance tothe pressure of the wheel-flange on the guard-rail. The provision ofseparate rod-abutments 7, spaced apart, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,decreases the danger of brake-rods catching onto such abutment, andwhere one rail only is to be braced there is less strain on the spikesor lag-screws which hold the abutment or center piece to the cross-tie.Should it be found desirable, the chair 3 and abutmentplate 6 might beconnected by means of a metal strip riveted to their under sides toreduce strain. The arrangement of the independently-adjustablebrace-rods and their supports will permit a firm bracing of eachguard-rail with relation to the adjacent main rail and obviatesliability to canting where only one guard-rail is used, as at switches.

hat we claim as our invention is 1. In a rail-brace, the combinationwith the rail, and a chair having an upward-extended portion at theinner side of the rail, of an abutment or center piece secured to acrosstie at the center of the track, and an inclined brace-rod havingone end adjustably connected with said abutment and its other endloosely engaged with the upward-extended portion of the chair at theinner side of the rail and near its top, substantially as described.

2. In a rail-brace the combination with the rail, and a chair having anupward-extended portion at the inner side of the rail, of an abutment orcenter piece secured to the crosstie at the center of the track andprovided with an inclined screw-threaded aperture, an inclined brace-rodhaving one end screwthreaded and adjustably engaged in theabutmentaperture, the other end of said bracerod being loosely engagedwith the upwardextended portion of the chair at the inner side of therail and near its top, and a jam-nut on the screw-threaded portion ofsaid bracerod, substantially as described.

I). In a rail-brace, the combination oi" the rails, the chairs havingupward-extended portions at the inner sides of the rails, a platesecured to a cross-tie at the center of the track and provided with twospaeedapart abutments each having a screw-threaded aperture, theinclined brace-rods each havingits outer end loosely engaged with achair at the inner side of a rail and near its top, the inner ends ofsaid brace-rods being screw-threaded and ad j ustably engaged in thescrew-threaded apertures of said abutments, and j am-nnts for saidbrace-rods, substantially as described.

4-. In a brace for the guard-rails of railwaytraeks, the combination ofthe main rails, the guard-rails, chairs for said rails, the inclinedbraces loosely engaged with said chairs at the inner sides of theguard-rails and near their tops, and a center piece secured to across-tie at the center of the track and provided with two spaced-apartabutments with which the inner ends of said brace-rods are adjust-ablyengaged independent of each other, substan tially as described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set ourhands in presence of twosubscribing wit nesses.

\VESLEY l). BRUNSON. IIAI-JIWELL L. 'HRUNSON. Witnesses:

las. 13. MQCALL, \V. N. C. OoNLEY.

